PHY 
PHTHISIS, a species of cousumption, 
arising from an nicer of the lungs. See 
Medicine, 
PHYLACTERY, in antiquity, a charm, 
or anurlet, which being worn, was supposed 
to preserve people from certain evils, di- 
seases, and dangers. 
PHYLLACHNE, in botany, a genus of 
the Dioecia Monandria class and order. 
Essential character : calyx three-leaved, 
superior ; corolla funnel form : female, 
stigma four-cornered ; capsule inferior, 
many seeded. There is only one species, 
viz. P. uliginosa, a small mossy plant, grow- 
ing in tufts ; stems closely approximating, 
covered with imbricate leaves, proliferous 
into two or three branchlets; leaves small, 
awl-shaped, flowers terminating, sessile, 
white ; this plant has the structure of a 
moss, but adonied with flowers of a very 
different kind. It is a native of Terra del 
Fnego. 
PHYLLANTHUS, in botany, a genus of 
tlm Monoecia Triandria class and order. 
Natural order of Tricoccre. Euphorbise, 
Jussieu. Essential character : male, calyx 
six-parted, bell-shaped; corolla none: fe- 
male, calyx six-parted ; corolla none; styles 
three, bifid ; capsule three-celled ; seeds 
solitary. There are eleven species, among 
which we shall notice the P. niruri, annual 
pliyllanthus, this is a plant, with an herba- 
ceous stalk a foot and half in height ; the 
leaflets contract every evening, turning 
their under side outwards ; the flowers are 
produced on the under side of the leaves 
along the midrib, and turn downwards ; it 
usually flowers here from June to October; 
the seeds ripen in succession, and are cast 
out of the capsules, when ripe, with so 
much force, as to be thrown to a consi- 
derable distance ; it is very common in 
Barbadoes and Japan. 
PHYLICA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Dumosse. Rhamni, Jussieu. 
Essential character : perianth five-parted, 
turbinate ; petals none, but five scales de- 
fending the stamens ; capsule tricoccous, 
inferior. There are twenty species, of 
which P. ericoides, heath-leaved phylica, is 
a low bushy plant, seldom more than three 
feet in height ; the stalks are shrubby and 
irregular, dividing into many spreading' 
branches ; at the end of every shoot, the 
flowers are produced in small clusters, 
sitting close to the leaves, of a white co- 
lour ; they begin to appear in the autumn, 
continue in beauty all the winter ; tliey de- 
PHY 
cay in spring ; it grows naturally at the 
Cape of Good Hope ; it also occupies large 
tracts of ground about Lisbon, in the same 
manner as many lands in England are co- 
vered with heath. 
PHYLLIS, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Digynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Stellatse. Rubiaceae, Jussieu. 
Essential character : stigmas hispid ; fruc- 
tifications scattered ; calyx two-leaved, ob- 
solete ; corolla five-petalled ; seeds two. 
There is but one species, viz. P. nobla, 
bastard hare’s ear, a native, of the Canary 
islands. 
PHYSALIS, in botany, mnter-cherry, a 
genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class 
and order. Natural order of Luridae. So- 
laneae, Jussieu. Essential character: co- 
rolla wheel-shaped ; stamina converging ; 
berry witliin an inflated calyx, two-celled. 
There are seventeen species, of which the 
P. alkekengi, common winter-cherry, has a 
perennial root, creeping to a considerable 
distance ; it shoots up many stalks in the 
spring ; leaves of various shapes, of a dark 
green colour, on long foot stalks ; flowers 
axillary, on slender peduncles; berry round, 
the size of a small cherry, inclosed in the in- 
flated calyx ; it is a native of the south of 
Europe. 
PHYSETER, the cachalot, in natural 
history, a genus of Mammalia of the order 
Cete. Generic character : teetli perceivable 
in the lower jaw only ; spiracle on tlie head. 
There are four species, P. macrocephalus, 
or the spermaceti whale, is sixty feet in 
length, and the head is nearly one-third of 
the bulk of the whole animal. It is found 
in the European seas, and on the coasts of 
New England, swims with extreme swift- 
ness, and persecutes the white shark with 
violent and fatal enmity. The lump fish, 
also, it pursues with great avidity. It is one 
of the most difficult of all whales to be 
taken, and survives for several days, the 
deepest wounds given it by the harpoon. Its 
skin, oil, and tendons are all converted by 
the Greenlanders to some valuable pur- 
pose, and its flesh is not altogether rejected 
by them. The spermaceti is found in a 
vast hollow in the head of this animal, and, 
when warm, is nearly fluid, but dries by ex- 
posure to the air into flaky masses. Am- 
bergris, also, is produced by this species, 
and consists in fact of the feces of the 
animal. The origin of this substance^ had 
long baffled the curiosity of the enquirer, 
but is at length unquestionably ascer- 
tained. 
